Love
by XoxMountainGirlxoX
Summary: Mitchie does a little matchmaking for Caitlyn, but doesn't know that there is a person who loves Caitlyn and hurts that Mitchie doesn't even think about him. An accident provides the perfect way for him to show her how he cares.


**I Don't Own Anything...only part of the plot line...I helped write it with another writer from this board. **

* * *

"So guys," Mitchie said casually to Nate, Jason and Shane, "what do you think about your new drummer? He seems nice."

Nate and Shane looked at each other and burst out laughing. Mitchie glared at them both.

"You never give up do you?" Nate asked.

Mitchie's eyes opened wide as she feigned ignorance, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on Mitchie!" Nate replied. "You're thinking about setting him up with Caitlyn. We know you – any time you meet a new guy you automatically start judging him as a possible date for her."

Shane added, "And what's hilarious is you're so bad at it."

"First of all, you, Mr. Gray, are so sleeping on the couch tonight," Mitchie said pointing a finger at her husband. "Second, I am not bad at it. I found her the perfect guy; it's not my fault neither of you would cooperate." The latter part was aimed at Nate, who groaned.

As soon as Mitchie had met Nate, she had been sure he was the guy for Caitlyn; they were loyal, level-headed, sarcastic, and focused on music. The two had gotten along from day one, working closely together on several albums. She had tried for two years to get them together, until they finally sat her down and told her to knock it off. They knew she meant well, but there just wasn't any spark between them. Mitchie begrudgingly gave up 'Operation Naitlyn', but she was still determined to find her best friend a guy. Being with Shane made her happy, and she wanted Caitlyn to have something like that in her life.

And Caitlyn certainly wasn't doing anything to help herself in that department; she couldn't actually remember the last time Caitlyn went on a date not set up by Mitchie. Caitlyn threw herself completely into her work, logging long hours in the studio for months at a time. The rare instances where Caitlyn had free time, she would come over and hang out with Mitchie, Shane, Nate and Jason.

Shane and Nate looked incredulously at Mitchie. "Baby, she has never gone on a second date with anyone you set her up with. And she had to stage an intervention to get you to give up on Nate here," Shane said.

"I don't need to be right every time," Mitchie replied. "I only need one. And the drummer seems like a great guy."

"The drummer is in a long-term relationship," Nate said, "with a guy named Philip."

"Crap," Mitchie exclaimed. She paused for a moment before laughing, "I am really bad at this, aren't I?"

Shane pulled her close to him and kissed her on the head, "But your heart is in the right place. Now can we stop talking about Caitlyn's pathetic love life and watch the game?"

OoO

The game had only been on for a few minutes when Mitchie noticed Jason get up and leave the room. He loved basketball, and when he didn't return, Mitchie grew worried. She looked all around the house before eventually opening the doors leading to the balcony. There she found him leaning against the railing looking out at the city lights. She walked up next to him, sneaking a look at his face before turning back to the view. Mitchie was shocked to see that her normally upbeat friend looking upset. He was so rarely sad that Mitchie wasn't sure what to do, so she just waited to see if he wanted to talk about it.

"What's wrong with me?" he finally asked.

Mitchie gasped at his question. "Jason, what do you mean? Why would you even ask me that?"

"Well, there must be something wrong with me cause over the past five years you've pretty much tried to set Caitlyn up with every guy you know but me," he said dejectedly.

Jason was right; she had never even considered Caitlyn and Jason together. And Mitchie wasn't sure why – he was sweet, funny, attractive, and he and Caitlyn had always gotten along. Mitchie turned towards Jason and gave him a hug. "There's nothing wrong with you, Jase. You're an incredible guy," Mitchie's eyes welled up with tears as she spoke. She hated that she had been the one to make Jason doubt himself. "Remember," she added, "I'm really bad at picking guys for her. You shouldn't take it personally."

He chuckled at her joke, returning the hug. "So it's not that you think I'm not good enough?"

Mitchie pulled back and looked at Jason. "Jason, don't ever think like that!" All of a sudden, something occurred to Mitchie and she narrowed her eyes, "Were you upset because I didn't think to set you up with her or because you wanted me to and I didn't?"

Jason looked confused. "What's the difference?"

"Did you just want to be considered or do you actually want to date her?" Jason's blush was visible even in the darkness. "Jason, do you like Caitlyn?" He hesitated a moment before nodding.

Mitchie winced as she thought of all the times in the past few months she had talked about setting Caitlyn up with another guy in front of Jason. "Oh, Jason, why didn't you say something? How long have you felt this way?"

"A while," Jason said quietly.

"How long is a while? Weeks? Months?"

"Years."

"Please tell me you didn't like her during Operation Naitlyn," Mitchie begged. Jason just shrugged. "I've pretty much liked her since the first day I met her," he admitted.

"Really?" Mitchie said.

"Yeah, you think you could help me?" Jason asked

"Let me think and I will get back to you."

OoO

A week later, at 1:00 in the morning, Jason woke up to the phone ringing. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Mitchie.

"What is wrong? Why are you calling at 1:00 in the morning?" Jason asked, sitting up in bed. All he heard was sobbing on the other end. "Mitchie? Mitchie, what's wrong?" Jason asked, worried about could cause Mitchie to cry like that.

He heard some mumbling on the other end of the phone and then what sounded like the phone being handed to someone else. "Jason?" It was Shane. "Jason, are you there?" Jason jumped a little at Shane's voice.

"Yeah I'm here. What's wrong? Why is Mitchie crying?" Jason asked hurriedly out of nervousness.

"Jason, Mitchie got a call just a few minutes ago…..Caitlyn has been in an accident." Those six words stopped Jason's heart. Caitlyn, in an accident?

"How? What happened?"

"She hit a patch of black ice and her car went over the side of the road; we don't know how bad she is. We are on our way to the hospital. Nate got the same call - both he and Mitch were put down as people to call if something happened to Caitlyn."

"Give me the address, and I will be there as soon as I can." Jason said, his heart beating fast. He was so scared his hand shook as he wrote down the information. After Shane gave him the address, Mitchie stared sobbing again, and Shane hung up to go calm her down.

OoO

It took an hour to get to the hospital. Caitlyn was out of town when the accident occurred, and she had been driving home. She was going through the mountains and had hit a patch of black ice. Her car ran off the side of the road, down the embankment and then hit a tree, which stopped her from going into the nearby river. Her car had been totaled, and no one knew how she had survived.

Jason, panting from running so hard, slid into the waiting room. Everyone turned to look at him. When they saw who it was their eyes conveyed the pity they felt for him. They all knew how he felt about Caitlyn.

"How is she?" Jason asked. He sat down near Mitchie, knowing she could use a lot of support; Caitlyn was her best friend, almost like a sister.

"She has a lot of head trauma. Her air bag didn't deploy and she hit her head against the steering wheel really hard. She is still unconscious and they don't know when or if she will wake up…" Mitchie said, breaking off into sobs at the end.

Jason stared at the floor, trying to keep back the tears that were threatening to fall. He could feel Mitchie, who was sitting next to him, shaking with silent sobs. Jason turned and took her from Shane. He hugged her to him; he was like her big brother, and he hated to see her so emotionally distraught. As he held her and tried to calm her down, his own tears made their way down his face. Shane looked over at the two friends and saw how much his wife had a connection with his best friend. They both loved the same woman, one as a sister and one as a lover. He was saddened by the thought that they might lose that person that meant so much to them.

OoO

After a few hours they were able to see Caitlyn. They could only go two at a time. All her friends were there, even Tess. Caitlyn only had friends to help her when she needed them. Caitlyn's parents had died a year ago and she was an only child. Shane and Mitchie went in first, and Mitchie had to walk out just seconds after she went into the room. Caitlyn didn't look like herself. Even Shane had tears running down his face the moment he saw her, and he was usually the strong one.

Caitlyn had a bunch of tubes running in and around her body; there was one coming out of her head, taking the fluid off of her brain. She also was on a ventilator, helping her breathe. Her whole head, except for her face, was wrapped up. One of her arms had a cast on it, as did one of her legs that had gotten crushed under the steering wheel. She had a broken nose that left her with two black eyes, and her face had small cuts all over it. The rest of her had black and blue marks all over; the largest started from her left shoulder and disappeared under the gown. That bruise was in the shape of the seatbelt, going down her chest and around her waist. The doctor said she also had two broken ribs, one on each side.

Shane gasped when he first saw her, and he heard Mitchie run out the door. He hoped that someone would be there to catch when she fell. He also hoped that Jason would be able to handle the sight when he came in. Shane walked over to the bed, focused on the frail girl in front of him, the sounds of the monitors and the ventilator fading into the background. He sat down next to her and took her hand

"Hey Caitlyn. I guess you're wondering what's going on, huh? Well, you were in an accident, and you're in the hospital. Caitlyn, you have to wake up. Mitchie is in hysterics, and Jason is so worried about you. You need to wake up for your friends. Please, wake up. You're like my little sister, and I don't like to see you like this. I love you." Shane said, getting up and kissing her hand.

Everyone had gone and seen her, and now it was Jason's turn. He wanted to go last, and Nate went in with him to offer support. They went into the room and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw her. They had never seen Caitlyn this weak and frail before, not even when she was sick with the flu and had a 104 degree temperature.

Jason about collapsed when he saw her, but Nate caught him and hauled him into the chair at the side of the bed. Tears were streaming down both boys' faces. Jason couldn't speak; it was too much for him to take in. He knew from his friends that she looked bad, but nothing could prepare him for what he saw, the love of his life on the brink of death.

Nate whispered some things to her and patted Jason on the back before heading out of the room and down the hall to the waiting room. Jason finally took Caitlyn's hand and rubbed circles around it with his thumb. He started to speak, his voice choked with all the crying he had done and all the tears he was suppressing at that moment.

"Caitlyn, it's Jason. They told us that you can hear when we talk to you. I just wanted to let you know that …" Jason took a deep breath. He had been thinking about what to say in the waiting room, and he finally decided to tell her how he really felt about her. "…I love you. Not just as a brother, but more….more than a friend. I need you, Caitlyn. I need you in my life. I will die if you do. I can't live without you. Please, wake up. For me. And for Mitchie and all our friends. They want you alive and well."

With that he kissed her hand, got up and started for the door. Just when he was about to walk through the doorway and turn down the hall, he heard a groan. He looked back and saw Caitlyn's fingers moving. He ran back to her and took her hand. "Caitlyn. Caitlyn, open your eyes! Open your eyes, Honey." She opened her eyes and saw Jason smiling down at her. She groaned again. "I will be right back," Jason said as he ran out of the room to look for a doctor.

OoO

An hour later they had the breathing tube out and Caitlyn was looking around at all her smiling friends. They gave her hand a squeeze and left when the doctor told them to leave. Only Jason remained. Caitlyn cleared her throat.

"I love you too." She said in a gravelly voice. Her throat hurt after having that tube in it.

"What?" Jason asked.

"I said 'I love you'. I love you too, Jason." Caitlyn said with a small smile. "When I was unconscious I saw my parent's and they told me that I couldn't go yet' that people needed me. Then I heard what you said. You told me that you loved me."

Jason's smile grew and he surprised her with a small, sweet, gentle kiss. The heart monitor started beeping faster. They looked over at it and smiled. They finally found each other.


End file.
